Friday 31 July 2009

Thursday 30 July 2009

BERLIN: VISIT TO E-FLUX'S BUILDING A FEW DAYS BEFORE IT CLOSES DOWN FOREVER!



Magdalena welcoming us to the building





Enzo Mari's furniture


the kitchen


the reading room


Magdalena Magiera at e-flux video rental space


e-flux video rental

Dear friends,

After three years in Berlin, we feel that the time has come to close shop and let other initiatives fill the space that has been created by all of us throughout this time.

As a way to start this process, we are planning a closing event called How Do You Want To Be Credited? for which we will turn the building over to you -- our public -- for a two day weekend program scheduled for Saturday, August 22nd and Sunday, August 23rd. We are open to all ideas and proposals for presentations (up to 30 minutes in duration), performances, screenings, talks or other actions. Any spaces in The Building can be used.

If you are in Berlin in August and would like to be part of The Building's closing program, please send a description of what you would like to do, to magdalena@e-flux.com by August 1st, and we will consider it for our final weekend.

***

Platz der Vereinten Nationen 14A was originally rented by e-flux in 2006 to house unitednationsplaza project in the wake of the cancellation of Manifesta 6. Following unitednationsplaza, we turned our building into The Building, where we presented numerous screenings and discussions as part of a year long installation of the e-flux video rental project, maintained a public reading room of several thousand books on contemporary art contributed by more than 500 art institutions and individuals from all parts of the world, and commissioned a year long lecture series by Berlin-based critic Jan Verwoert. The Building hosted many other events such as seminars, magazine and book launches, as well as memorable drunken dance nights at our basement bar.

We wish to deeply thank all the people who contributed their ideas and time to The Building.

We will miss you!

Julieta Aranda, Anton Vidokle & Magdalena Magiera

The Building
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 14a
10249 Berlin DE
phone: 030 28 04 79 73
magdalena@e-flux.com

Wednesday 29 July 2009

VIVA EL GALLO! ADIOS JUAN GALLO.



Colombian gallerist Juan Gallo, of galeria Alcuadrado, died on Monday.

I was very fortunate to collaborate with him last April in Bogota, when I did an exhibition within an exhibition organized by Alcuadrado and curated by La Central.

Alcuadrado was a visionary gallery, organizing exhibitions which happened outside of the traditional white cube-gallery space and which took place in spaces that were physically and symbolically forgotten.

Sr. Gallo, we will miss you.

http://www.alcuadrado-art.com

mr. gallo's photograph downloaded from flickr photograph by valeria duqe.

Tuesday 28 July 2009

MINIMAL FOLK CORPORATE MODERNISM, ARMANDO ANDRADE'S EXHIBITION AT DAAD BERLIN







daadgalerie
Armando Andrade Tudela
Torcida
10 July - 29 August 2009
Opening: 9 July 2009, 7 - 9 pm

Armando Andrade Tudela presents a group of new works entitled "Torcida". The minimalist objects made of glass, steel and rattan display simple geometric abstractions and interventions into the material. The Spanish adjective torcido/a means "crooked" or "askew," Torcidas is also what the famous and notorious associations of football fans in Brazil are called. The name is based on the verb torcer, which means "to root for" but also "to wring" and "to turn". The supposition is that the behavior of the fans present at the stadium could help the team gather strength to beat the opponent. The title points to a leitmotif of the exhibition, reconciling geometric form variations and forms of social communities.

Four Rattan wicker wall objects play on a recurring theme in Andrade Tudela's works: how seemingly identical formal means and formulations can gain a completely different meaning and grammar when seen within diverse historical and cultural contexts. In the past, Andrade Tudela has frequently dealt with this question in considering the differences, but also the similarities of modernity and its development in Europe and South America. The use of rattan points to an "exotic" or "soft" modernity and to the romantic or colonial notion of an economy based on traditional handcraft and natural products. At the same time, the rattan objects are reminiscent of Op-Art or optical experiments and vouch for Andrade Tudela's abiding interest in forms of expanding perception and the artistic and social experiments of the (counter-) culture of the 1960s.

The series of geometric studies made of glass and MDF created for the exhibition presents variations of a matrix. These objects can be classified somewhere between study, model, and sculpture, filtering and refracting upon the various works of the exhibition as well as the exhibition space. Rather than presenting a finished product, or developing a specific formal language, Andrade Tudela is interested in the character of language and the readability and possibilities of Minimalism and geometric abstraction in its current reception.

Early 2010, Andrade Tudela's first monographic catalogue / artist's book will be released in collaboration with the Berliner Künstlerprogramm / DAAD, the IKON Gallery in Birmingham, and the FRAC Bourgogne in Dijon.

Armando Andrade Tudela (b. 1975 in Lima, Peru) was a guest of the DAAD's Berliner Künstlerprogramm in 2008/09. He studied at the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Lima and at the Royal College of Arts in London. In Lima, he was founding member of Espacio La Culpable, an artist run space and art collective. 2004/05, he was a Fellow at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. 2008/09 Andrade Tudela had solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Basel, the Frankfurter Kunstverein, and the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. He has participated in numerous biennials, such as the Lyon Biennale 2007, and in international group exhibitions, such as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (2007) and the MACBA in Barcelona (2009). Upcoming solo exhibitions in early 2010 include MACBA, Barcelona and FRAC Bourgogne. Armando Andrade Tudela currently lives and works in St. Etienne, France and in Berlin.

daadgalerie
Zimmerstr. 90/ 91
10117 Berlin
Mon – Sat 11am – 6pm
http://www.berliner-kuenstlerprogramm.de

Monday 27 July 2009

BERLIN, SUNDAY VISIT TO THE 'NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR THE HOMOSEXUAL VICTIMS OF THE NAZI REGIME'











National Memorial for the Homosexual Victims of the Nazi Regime

In 2003, the German Reichstag (parliament) voted in favor of commissioning a monument to commemorate the homosexual victims of the Nazi regime. Following an international competition in 2006, Berlin-based artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset's proposal was selected for realization.

Elmgreen & Dragset have related the aesthetics of the monument to the Holocaust memorial, which is located directly opposite, on the other side of the street. While Peter Eisenmann’s Holocaust memorial consists of 2711 concrete stelae (cubic slabs), Elmgreen & Dragset have opted for just one single slab, using the same material, color and proportions as Eisenmann's, but enlarging it slightly in its overall size to take on the character of a pavilion. Whilst the concrete 'pavilion' lacks any exits or entrances, the visitor will - through a small, square window - be able to watch an endless film loop of two men embracing in a kiss.

The appropriation of elements borrowed from the Holocaust memorial underlines the similarities in experience of persecution and suffering between the different victim groups, whereas the intimacy of the film loop insists on an identity of its own. Situated on the other side of the street, the work seems to say: 'We are the same, but we are also different.'

The film is shot by cinematographer Robby Müller (Down by Law; Paris, Texas; Dancer in the Dark; Coffee and Cigarettes) and directed by the Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (who’s film Festen (Celebration) won the Jury Prize in Cannes, 1998). The kissing scene is shot on 35mm black and white film at the actual location of the memorial before it was erected. Watching the film through the window, one may recognize that the background to the two kissing men is identical to the backdrop of the pavilion itself, with one subtle difference: the change of seasons that will indicate the passage of time.

The memorial seeks in various ways to exchange the monumental with the intimate, aiming to confront the public on a personal level rather than constitute a general spectacle. The tiny window carved out into the concrete block allows only a couple of people to experience the film clip at one time.The viewers will find themselves face to face with the poetic, emotional moment of the two men kissing. The clarity of the scene and the direct depiction that the viewer is met with is crucial to an understanding of the memorial. The acceptance of other sexual orientations is not only a question of obtaining legal rights but also one of acceptance on the street level and in everyday situations.

Every second year for a period of ten years the film clip will be exchanged with other artists’ filmic interpretations of a homosexual intimate encounter. Through this regenerative element, Elmgreen & Dragset's memorial will renew its character over and over again and provide material for ongoing discussions on identity and representational issues.

Saturday 25 July 2009

BERLIN: THE BEST BUTT PARTY EVER AT BERGHAIN CANTINE AND BIERGARTEN!


PetShopBear's Beer mugs!


Pet Shop Bears welcoming comittee, Open Mike is on the left Justin Case on the right (photo by Gert)


Giant Butt poster!


Rummelsnuff and Bernd Butz perform a extra-special gay accordion set!


Namy Nosratifard, Frank U and Butt magazine editor Jop van Bennekom!


Butt magazine editor fantastic man Gert Jonkers!


Mr. Tom Smith!


Dean Sameshima!


Francesc Ruiz and Manuel Segade!


Ricardo Domeneck, cock cookies and boyfriend!


Eli Sudbrack and Juicy Basso!


Mr. de la Barra and Mr. Waddington shot by Mr. Sameshima!


the opportunity of being a Butt cover boy!


Danny Calvi!


dj of the night Dan Beaumont!


Berlin men on the dancefloor


and peeling ceiling!

The Pet Shop Bears and BUTT magazine are teaming up for another awesome bust-busting kind of party: BEER-B-Q!

This time expect a special live PA from Erobique and his super-special guest, plus London’s own Dalston Super Store Dan Beaumont as well as your hosts, Justin Case and Open Mike. Out in the Biergarten, Rummelsnuff and Bernd Butz perform a extra-special Knopfaccordion set.

Friday 24 July 2009 from 9 PM until late at the Berghain Cuntine and Biergarten in Berlin.

Get sauced all-nite and enjoy 20+centimeter wurste from the grill!

Monday 20 July 2009

SUNDAY AT FRANK'S CAFE AND CAMPARI BAR IN PECKHAM!


temporary restaurant on top of parking lot


Alison, Cameron, Emilia...


Rebecca, Alison, Cameron, Douglas, Gregorio, Clementine, David and Emilia


gazpacho, tomatos, bread and ham


rooftop view...


plastic roof fastened to the parking lot...


rooftop sculptures...


and parking lot art.

http://www.frankscafe.org.uk/